Advance file photoNicholas Marchese is escorted out of the 120 Police Precinct stationhouse in St. George after his arrest on Feb. 24, 2011.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Jeff Capretta sobbed as he faced his son’s killer today in a St. George courtroom.

Moments before Nicholas Marchese was sentenced to five and two-thirds to 17 years in prison for a drunken one-car crash in Greenridge that killed Capretta’s son, Jeffrey, 20, and Daniel Peluso, 19, the elder Capretta said he has endured a different kind of punishment since Aug. 29, 2010: Unbearable grief and pain.

“Nick, you gave me a life sentence, a burden I have to carry for the rest of my life,” the Woodrow resident said, as muffled gasps escaped from the packed courtroom gallery. “It’s like having your heart torn out. There’s no way to fill that hole. One of my children is missing. I stand by helplessly while my wife cries day after day. Everything I do, everything I touch, I see Jeffrey. In the morning, the sun never really shines for me.”

Marchese, 22, dressed in a striped shirt and tie and black pants, stared silently at the defense table.

Later, Marchese’s lawyer, Leo Duval, read a statement on his behalf in which the defendant expressed remorse for his actions.

“I am deeply sorry for the pain and anguish I caused you all. I live with shame and guilt every day. This will last a lifetime,” read Duval.

Jeffrey Capretta, 20, was killed in the Aug. 29, 2010 crash at Arthur Kill and Annadale roads in Greenridge.

The impact killed Jeffrey Capretta and Peluso, of Great Kills. Of the others in the car, Julian Pacheco, then 23, and Thomas Sjeimie, then 19, had to have steel rods inserted in their legs, prosecutors said. Marchese and Rob Grossman, then 20, were also injured.

The group had gone to a birthday party and had just left the Clubhouse Lounge in Arden Heights when the crash occurred, said prosecutors.

At some point, it’s believed that Peluso realized he was too drunk to drive and gave his keys to Marchese, Donovan said. The car belonged to one of Peluso’s female relatives, said prosecutors.

Marchese — who had two and a half times the legal limit of alcohol in his system after the crash, or .20 percent — did not initially admit to driving, Donovan said. But witness statements and scientific evidence ultimately put Marchese behind the wheel, the district attorney said.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Palladino said today that Marchese was rocketing along the notoriously winding Arthur Kill Road at more than 60 mph.

He disregarded “numerous pleas” from his five passengers to slow down and swerved into oncoming traffic, nearly colliding with a car carrying five young women, said Palladino.

The Altima then barreled into a utility pole, ripping the auto in half.

Several occupants were flung from the vehicle, and the ensuing carnage left police initially unsure who was driving.

Peluso’s grief-stricken mother, Kim Peluso, told Marchese today that she had lost “one of the most important people in my life.”

“Because of your decision to be reckless and irresponsible, he’s no longer here,” she said through sobs. “Daniel will never be able to become the man he was meant to be. You took his life and destroyed his family."

While the victims’ families excoriated Marchese for his 17-month delay in admitting he drove the vehicle, Duval said his client was merely following his advice as they awaited the outcome of the investigation.

“When the time came to follow my advice in a different direction [and plead guilty], my client was not hesitant to do so,” said Duval, who also expressed his own sorrow for the victims’ families’ losses. “He stepped up to the plate and accepted responsibility.”

Justice Leonard P. Rienzi called the incident a senseless loss of two lives. And he said it’s a tragedy that occurs “too often” on borough roads and highways.

The judge noted that Marchese has continued using drugs and alcohol even after the incident, although Duval contended his client has done so to try to cope with his guilt and anguish.

“No sentence I impose … will make up the pain, emptiness and loss that the victims’ loved ones feel,” said Rienzi. “[But], hopefully, the sentence I impose will deter others, particularly young drivers, from drinking and getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.”

The judge sentenced Marchese to five and two-thirds to 17 years for each aggravated vehicular homicide conviction. He imposed a sentence of two to six years for each vehicular assault conviction.

All the sentences will run concurrently.

Under the plea terms, Marchese could have received anywhere from a minimum of four to 12 years to a maximum of six to 18 years. Prosecutors sought the maximum.

“We hope that the sentence sends a message to Staten Island,” Jeff Capretta said outside court.